


Webs with a Side of Macaroni Salad

by happyaspie



Series: Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [13]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Conversations, Criminals Making Mistakes, Dialogue Heavy, Excitable Peter Parker, Good Peter, Intern Peter Parker, Macaroni Salad, Precious Peter Parker, Random & Short, Spider-Man Interacting with New Yorkers, Tony Stark is a Good Mentor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-06-24 21:00:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19731694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaspie/pseuds/happyaspie
Summary: Some nights, patrols are more interesting than others and Peter loves to share those stories with his mentor and Tony loves to listen.





	Webs with a Side of Macaroni Salad

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based off a real incident that took place in 2015. There is an article about it on [Huffpost](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/macaroni-salad-trail-robber_n_7259934?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaHVmZnBvc3QuY29tL3RvcGljL3N0dXBpZC1jcmltaW5hbHM&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMIVUOO1ZlkW056DxWHJ_GVO_1brDkXeV4aRGaxdb4oHMUO0UnwiGTetP0hX_dd9vz1jCLPAkPK6yp0IWj9thOR8lpRlHRnLHs-fZ84Q1tIiDxbEZ7GbRfDsm-qn0kWx82e5Ca8blF8EOxgZQDjBRZOR3w2OPUZzg6BOCef1WyU3) ...because sometimes real life is better than anything I could make up.

"Hey, Mr. Stark!", Peter chirped as he skipped into the lab, tossing his backpack and jacket onto the couch in the corner. It was Friday afternoon and Tony had invited him over to work the lab. He couldn't think of any better way to start his weekend.

"Hey, Kid. You ready to get started or do you need a snack or something?", Tony questioned from across the room. 

Hurrying across the glossy tiled floor, Peter was soon standing directly beside his mentor eager to begin whatever project the man had lined up for him. "I'm good. Happy got me a burrito on the way over. He said that it was from the best place in all of New York but I told him that wasn't true. I mean, it was good but it wasn't _as good_ as the ones you get at Las Tor-- "

"--Las Torres...", Tony finished, having already had the best burrito debate with the kid before. He didn't agree but he wasn't going to start _that_ up again. "So, is that a yes, you're ready?"

Plopping down in the chair beside his mentor's, Peter smiled. "Mm-hmm, I'm ready, Mr. Stark."

Tony was _just about_ to pull up the schematics for an upgrade he'd been toying with for the Spider-suit when he suddenly paused. "Wait, do you have homework?", he asked with mild hesitation. That always felt like a weird question because since when does _Tony Stark_ question kids about the completion status of their school work? _'Since Peter_.', he supplied for himself with a sigh.

"It's Friday, Mr. Stark. I have all weekend.", Peter remarked with confidence. Homework was the last thing on his mind. He was in _Tony Stark's_ Personal lab and you don't get invited into a lab _like that_ to sit around and write an English paper. 

Tony rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "Right, why don't you at least start _some_ of it.", the man blandly replied. "Just so I can have a leg to stand on if, say, you _don't actually finish it_ and you Aunt finds out. ...I still have tinnitus in my right ear from the last time you let your school work slip."

"It was one time, Mr. Stark! ...and that was _months ago_.", Peter quickly shot back. 

"Exactly.", Tony deadpanned before shooing the kid off towards an empty desk to get some school work done before they got too deep into anything else. 

"Fine", Peter grumbled mostly to himself. He'd missed the deadline on a major project and that had cut into his grade pretty good. May had immediately blamed his internship and _extra-curricular activities_ for the slip-up leading to Mr. Stark getting an earful about how school was supposed to come first. It hadn't happened again, mostly because Tony has started badgering him about it every time he came over. He was hoping that maybe just this once the man would leave him alone about it.

~o~o~o~o~o~

"I'm done, Mr. Stark!", Peter called out as he slammed his English Literature book closed and began to gather up all of the random paper's he'd spread out over the desk.

"Already?", Tony asked, looking skeptically over his shoulder. It had only been thirty minutes and that seemed unreasonably quick in his option, then again what did he know about how long it took a fifteen-year-old to do his homework.

Peter grinned and started putting everything back into his bag. "Most of it? I finished the Lit. Paper that's due on Monday. You can read over it if you want...", Peter suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. It wasn't exactly a difficult task and he'd started it in the car on the way over. The math could definitely wait, it wasn't due until Tuesday anyway.

"Nope. I draw the line at proofreading homework. It's below my paygrade.", the claimed before faltering a bit. "On second thought, bring it over here. Just so I know it's really done and you're not trying to pull something over on me." The truth was he was somewhat curious what he had written. He knew Peter was a genius when it came to math, science, and tech but wondered if his other skills were equally matched. Once his curiosity was satisfied he thrust the paper back into boy's hands, "Looks good, kiddo.", he casually replied in an attempt to not sound as impressed as he actually way. Clearly, the kid was well rounded, the essay was nicely written.

Once Tony had given Peter instructions for what he wanted him to work on, things grew somewhat quiet for a while. That was pretty normal. Peter would grow quiet as he concentrated on the task he's been given until he was comfortable with it and then the chattering would start. Today that only took a few minutes. "Did you watch the news last night, Mr. Stark?"

"Nope.", Tony answered simply as he continued to manipulate the photographic image before him. He had hoped to get a bit further in his project before the kid started his chatter-boxing but it was what it was and honestly, he enjoyed it. 

"Oh.", Peter uttered in disbelief. He thought everyone watched the news but he supposed not everyone had an AI that kept them informed about anything of any real importance. "Well, Spider-man made the news. It was pretty awesome, Mr. Stark."

Looking up from his work, Tony tried to analyze what the kid meant by 'awesome' this time. There had been plenty of times in the past where their ideas what could be defined as 'awesome' greatly differed. "Awesome how?", he replied flatly.

Peter blinked back in surprise because the man looked almost concerned. "Are you worried? It wasn't anything bad or you would know already, Mr. Stark.", Peter said as he met eyes with his mentor who immediately looked away.

"I'm not worried, kid.", the man scoffed, easily going back to the task he was still in the middle of. The kid had a point. He'd put protocol after protocol in that suit specifically so he could be kept in the loop so it couldn't be anything detrimental... he hoped. He was _pretty sure_ the code was tamper-proof at this point.

Shaking his head, Peter went back to his storytelling. "Well, I caught three robbers. ...You know that cafe off of the Union Turnpike by 177th street? It's kind of across from that hospital...", Peter asked, waving his hands around as if there were some sort of giant map in front of him. It was a pretty popular place, he'd been there several times with May _but he didn't want to assume that Tony knew where it was._

The movement seemed to grab Tony's attention and he looked up with a smile. "Not really...?", he replied in amusement. 

"Oh.", Peter gasped as if it were a tragedy that the man didn't know anything about the cafe he was referring too. "Well, they got robbed and I was around the corner when it happened. They stole everything, like _everything."_

_"_ Everything.", Tony deadpanned at the obvious exaggeration. Clearly, they hadn't stolen everything. That would make no sense what so ever.

"Yes, Mr. Stark. _Everything_ , now let me finish. _You're going to love this_.", Peter said with a smile as he got up out of his chair so that he could talk freely with his hands. 

Raising his eyebrows and leaning back in his chair, Tony waited with anticipation for the spirited narrative that was to come. "Am I now...", he sang out with a smile.

"Yes. Now, listen...", Peter eagerly quipped before pausing and adding a sheepish, "please. I meant, can you listen, please." 

"I'm listening.", Tony laughed at the boy's flustered correction. It always struck him as funny that the kid still insisted on using his best manners around him. They had been working together for months now. "Keep going."

"Okay, so they stole all the money out of the register, right?", Peter giddily explained. "Then they stole the surveillance equipment! How do you even do that?" As he'd asked the last question his arms flown up in the air in frustration.

"By having a lousy security system I would assume...", Tony replied with humor. Never taking his eyes off of his over-excited mentee.

"Maybe... but anyway. I got there and they were already gone and no one saw which way they went.", Peter announced before growing quiet, all the while watching Tony with anticipation. Then with a frustrated grunt, he added, "Well, aren't you going to ask me how I found them?"

Rolling his eyes, Tony held up a questioning hand. "Sure, kid. How did you find them", he asked reaching under his desk and pulling out a small pack of peanuts to snack on.

"They left a trail, Mr. Stark.", Peter deadpanned before breaking into a huge smile.

Looking blankly in Peter's direction, Tony tried to sort out what that meant. "A trail...", he finally uttered when he couldn't come up with anything.

"Mm-hmm, a trail.", Peter reiterated as he used his finger to draw an imaginary line in the air while trying not to laugh. 

"What like Hansel and Gretel?", the man asked in confusion as he popped another nut into his mouth.

"Exactly!", Peter shouted with glee, pointing at Tony as if he'd won some sort of prize. "...except it was Macaroni salad and not bread crumbs."

Totally thrown off by the ridiculousness of the entire story, Tony shook his head. "Come again?", he asked for clarification. Surely he had missed something here.

Peter, huffed a laugh and crossed his arms smugly over his chest. "Yeah, so remember how I told you they stole everything and _you questioned me?_ ", he asked, in a tone that screamed ' _I told you so'._

"Of course I remember that. It was five minutes ago.", Tony nearly snapped before going back to a more even tone. "I'm not _that old_."

Smiling, Peter held his hands up in defense. "I never said you were old, Mr. Stark.", Peter said as he sat back down in his chair, watching as his mentor ran his hands through his hair. Then once he felt like he had Tony's attention again he continued. ".. _.but anyway_ , not only did they steal the cameras and money and stuff but they stole a huge thing of macaroni salad too."

A look of disbelief crossed Tony's face as he tried to picture what the kid had just described. "...and then what... They left a noodle trail that led to their secret picnic lair in the park?", he asked crossing his arms over his chest as an amused smile tugging at his lips.

"Of course not, Mr. Stark. This isn't a cartoon or something, it's real-life... _there are no secret lairs_.", Peter said in all seriousness, causing Tony smirk and shake his head. "They were _eating it_ as they were running off and I guess they didn't realize they were dropping it. You should have seen their faces when I finally caught up to them. It was hilarious."

Accepting that the kid could not possibly be making this up, Tony nodded his head in understanding. "I'll bet. So you caught them all _mayonnaise handed_ and webbed them to the wall, I presume?"

"Yep! Then I returned the cameras and money.", Peter replied proudly. "I left the tub of macaroni salad with the bad guys, though."

"Why?", Tony asked incredulously. It wasn't like Peter to not return something. It went against every moral fiber of his being.

"It was gross, Mr. Stark!", Peter defended with a laugh. "They had their hands all in it and it was smeared all over the sides of the bowl.", he added with a disgusted shiver. "I didn't want to touch it."

Laughing at the kid's overreaction Tony, shook his head again. "Sure, kid."

Ignoring the fact that his mentor was taking entirely to much delight in the fact that he had _hygiene standards,_ he continued his story _._ "...but I did help the cafe manager hook the surveillance system back up and I made a few changes so that maybe it couldn't get taken again."

"Yeah? Well, you're good like that, kid. I'm sure the appreciated it.", Tony said in earnest because honestly, putting it back together and making it better wouldn't have ever crossed his mind. He probably would have handed them the pieces and told them good luck. Maybe suggested that they get something a little more... _more_ but Peter wasn't like that. He wanted to make sure to do everything possible to assist in any way he could.

"They did! They gave me some of their homemade cookies and a deli sandwich for helping them out.", Peter replied with enthusiasm. "Oh! ... and some lemonade. The good kind, made with real lemons and everything."

Tony smirked in his mentee's direction. "but no macaroni salad on the side?"

"No... they were, well, they were all out, Mr. Stark.", Peter replied, sounding dishearted. "Which was kind of disappointing because _I love pasta_."

Sighing, Tony stood up and crossed the room to place a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Should we order in some pasta for dinner tonight?", he offered with a small smile because, well, he didn't know why. ...but _maybe_ it was because the kid looked so pathetically _sad_ over a lack of noodles and that seemed easy enough to solve... 

With his mood rapidly swinging from quietly brooding to overly pleased, Peter nearly shouted. "That would be awesome, Mr.Stark!"

Sure, kid. Awesome.", Tony breathed out, as he moved his hand from the boy's shoulder to the back of his neck where he gave it a gentle squeeze. Then, Peter looked up at him with admiration causing Tony to smile back with fondness. They stayed like that for several seconds, enjoying the close proximity and implied affection before Tony quickly retracted his hand and turned to head back to his workstation. The soft smile never left his face as he quipped from across the room, "Now, get back to work before I change my mind." 

**Author's Note:**

> Like... I can just picture Spider-man all hunched over and running through alleyways following a trail of noodles like, 'Ah-ha!, they went that way!' and being all proud of himself...


End file.
